2008: #6 - "My President"

From the unexpectedly ethereal to the unexpectedly poignant, our next most favoritest song of 2008 is "My President" by Young Jeezy.

We have to admit that we fell hard for this song during our post-Election Day hangover, and while our actual president has disappointed us tremendously (though for the exact opposite reasons you'll hear spewed on the news or in the paper), "My President" has stayed fresh, even as that historic November night becomes a hazy memory.

Jeezy hits all the right notes here - it's catchy, it's uplifting, it's epic-sounding, it's serious, it's fun, it's witty, it's angry. It's surprisingly strong lyrically, too, with pseduo-political lines like "Be all that you can be/ Don't that sound like some dumb shit?/ When you die over crude oil/ Black as my nigga Boo" delivered the only way Jeezy knows how (loud), and held together by a 3rd verse by Nas that blows through the gate ("Our history/Black history/No president ever did shit for me") and coasts until the final triumphant chorus.

2009: #5 - "Amazing"

"I'm a monster
I'm a killer
I know I'm wrong
I'm a problem
That'll never ever be solved"

Only Mr. Ego of the Decade of the Year could turn a barrage of self-pity around by using it as a way to boast about his own complexity. Kanye never ceases to amaze.

From virtually the start of the decade, Mr. West has owned our playlists, beginning with his production for Jay-Z, then really picking up steam in 2004 with the release of The College Dropout and never looking back. He got so good - not only in his own mind, but for real - that he felt he had conquered rap and released an album of Auto-Tuned electro-pop ballads. Amazing.

Believe it or not, 808s and Heartbreak was excellent, if a downer - in some ways it was the soundtrack to the winter of 2008/2009. Even relatively positive songs like "Amazing" are laced with self-doubt and defiance. The production itself defies standard rap fare, with perhaps its most distinct element being its tempo, a slow chug bolstered by minimal piano and the occasional grunt.

Grunts come courtesy of Young Jeezy and act as the instrumental trump card. We'll freely admit - we usually don't "get" Jeezy, but his appearance here really works, blowing through the track like a wheezing bullhorn of proud disaffection. When he bellows, "They like, 'Oh God, why you go so hard?'", you know he's only yelling because he's truly got something to prove.